The present diving lip or bill relates generally to depth-controlling structures projecting from the front of fishing lures and more particularly to the shapes and relative positions of such structures.
Diving lips are designed to urge the fishing lure downwardly in the water as the angler reels it in or when the lure is trolled behind a boat. It is believed that the diving lip also imparts a side-to-side, wiggle or wobble movement to the lure to make it more attractive to game fish.
Heretofore, diving lips have been relatively simple in shape. Typically, they have been formed with a generally planar upper, or water-driving, surface extending from the lower front or mid-front of the lure. Shallow diving lips are relatively small and project at a relatively steep downward angle. Intermediate depth lips are larger and project at a shallower downward angle. Deep diving lips are the largest and project at an even shallower downward angle, if not horizontally, from the lure.
These relatively simply shaped diving lips did not enable lures to move sufficiently realistically through the water, from the present inventors' perspective. While prior art diving lips were effective at positioning the lure at a desired depth, the lures tended to move angularly, rather than horizontally, through the water even after the desired depth was reached. In contrast, live bait fish may angle their mouths downwardly when feeding or diving, but they typically move through the water at any particular depth with their bodies horizontally disposed.